The CBS Sports 2026 golf season is officially underway with the Farmers Insurance Open this weekend. It also features the debut of Johnson Wagner as an on-course reporter for PGA Tour coverage.
Wagner, a three-time tournament champion on the PGA Tour, joined CBS Sports in December after spending the past few years as an analyst for NBC Sports and Golf Channel. He’s been known for entertaining golf reports that feature recreating shots post-round or ahead of tournaments.
But in his CBS debut, Wagner even recreated a shot while the tournament was still going on during third-round action on Saturday at Torrey Pines.
On the first hole, Brooks Koepka had an incredible shot from the cart path concrete that landed on the green, near the flag.
Koepka from the cart path! pic.twitter.com/8Nf6JQSPdx
— Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) January 31, 2026
Just over 20 minutes later, Wagner recreated the Koepka shot, or tried to, in his debut “Run It Back With JW” segment on CBS.
Johnson Wagner attempts to recreate Brooks Koepka’s shot from the cart path while the tournament is still going on in his CBS Sports debut.
Jim Nantz and Trevor Immelman have the Farmers Insurance Open call for CBS from Torrey Pines. ⛳️🎙️ pic.twitter.com/8OH4PijrEI
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 31, 2026
“Well, Jim (Nantz), pretty interesting decision that Brooks Koepka made to hit it right here off the path, because when you look at the rough where he would have dropped, it’s going straight down grain and still would have had this angle,” Wagner explained. “But he got really lucky. There’s trees over here. He’s got a perfectly clear shot.”
Wagner then set up to prepare for recreating the shot.
“The key to hitting off the cart path is to not flinch at the bottom,” Wagner said, before hitting the shot. “Well, that’s way left. That is not very good. Hopefully, the catch cam didn’t get it. If I had hit it on the green, though, I wouldn’t have three-putted.”
“I got you up and down for par, by the way,” CBS play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz said. “We’re going to have some fun with this segment this year. We’ve loved watching you do this in the past. And not an easy shot, as he just proved. Because he’s had so many occasions where he has not only executed the shot, he’s done it better than what we saw in competition from the guys in the tournament.”
“Yeah, absolutely. That’s good stuff there from Johnson,” CBS color commentator Trevor Immelman, the 2008 Masters champion, said. “I’ll tell you what- it sounded real good. Unfortunately, the club face was just a little bit closed at impact.”
“His first swing of the day, and he’s got to go live on his CBS Sports debut,” Nantz said with a laugh. “We called some of your greatest moments. There might have been a little pressure on that shot.”
“I’m definitely feeling a little nervous,” Wagner said. “A little crowd around me. I’m just happy I didn’t hit anybody.”
It will be fun to follow the “Run It Back” segments throughout the season, and it’s a great addition to the PGA Tour broadcasts for CBS Sports.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.